They're Canadians I Tell You! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Raymond Massey

Raymond Massey was born Raymond Hart Massey in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1896. He died of pneumonia in Los Angeles, California, USA, in 1983, aged 86. He served in the Canadian artillery in WWI and was wounded in France. After WWII he became an American citizen. He made many movies including "49th Parallel" (1941) starring Laurence Olivier, (the only time Massey played a Canadian on screen), "The Fountainhead" (1949), starring Gary Cooper and "East Of Eden" (1955) starring James Dean. He also appeared on TV as Dr. Gillespie in "Dr. Kildare" starring Richard Chamberlain which ran from 1961 to 1966.

Raymond Massey played John Brown in "Santa Fe Trail" (1941), starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland and Ronald Reagan. He played him again in "Seven Angry Men" (1955), starring Jeffrey Hunter, Dennis Weaver and Debra Paget. He played Abraham Lincoln in the Broadway production of "Abe Lincoln in Illinois". He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor when he repeated the role in the film version (1940). He portrayed Abraham Lincoln on the US TV series "The Ford Star Jubilee" in "The Day Lincoln Was Shot" (1956). He played him again in "How the West Was Won" (1962). In 1953 he even played both John Brown and Abraham Lincoln on stage, in a reading of Stephen Vincent Benét's "John Brown's Body". An anonymous actor once remarked that Raymond Massey would not be satisfied with his portrail of Abraham Lincoln until someone had assassinated him.

He had two children while married to actress Adrianne Allen. His son was actor Daniel Massey, born Daniel Raymond Massey in London, England, in 1933. He died of Hodgkin's lymphoma in London, England, in 1998 aged 64. His daughter was actress Anna Massey born Anna Raymond Massey in Thakeham, England, in 1937. She died of cancer in London, England, in 2011 aged 73.

Answer: Donald Sutherland

Donald Sutherland was born Donald McNichol Sutherland in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, in 1935. He graduated from Victoria College, University of Toronto, with a double major in engineering and drama. In 1957 he left Canada for England and studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

After leaving LAMDA, he joined the Perth Repertory Theatre in Scotland and in the early '60s he began to get small roles in British films and on TV. He appeared in the horror movies "Castle of the Living Dead" (1964) and "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors" (1965), both starring Christopher Lee. He had a minor role in "The Bedford Incident" (1965), starring Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier. He appeared in episodes of various UK TV series such as "The Saint" (1965 & 1967), starring Roger Moore and "The Avengers" (1967), starring Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg.

After his second appearance in "The Saint", Sutherland played Vernon Pinkley in "The Dirty Dozen" (1967), starring Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan and Ernest Borgnine. He then left London for Hollywood and never looked back. He played Hawkeye Pierce in "M*A*S*H" (1970), starring Elliott Gould, Robert Duvall and Rene Auberjonois. He played Sgt. Oddball in "Kelly's Heroes" (1970), starring Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas and Don Rickles. Later he played John Klute in "Klute" (1971), starring Jane Fonda and Roy Scheider. He played Liam Devlin in "The Eagle Has Landed" (1976), starring Michael Caine and Robert Duvall. He played Calvin Jarrett in "Ordinary People" (1980), the directorial debut of Robert Redford and starring Mary Tyler Moore and Timothy Hutton. He played X in "JFK" (1991), starring Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman and Sissy Spacek.

His son is actor/producer/director Kiefer Sutherland, born Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland in London, England, in 1966.

Answer: Christopher Plummer

Christopher Plummer was born Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1929. Bilingual Plummer is the great-grandson of the third Prime Minister of Canada Sir John Abbott (1821-1893) and a second cousin of actor Nigel Bruce (who played Dr. John H. Watson to Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes).

First studying to be a concert pianist he took up acting after seeing the 1944 movie "Henry V" starring Laurence Olivier. He acted with the Canadian Repertory Company from 1948-50 and made his Broadway debut in "The Starcross Story", which closed on opening night in 1953. More successful on Broadway was a play about Joan of Arc "The Lark" (1955), starring Julie Harris and Boris Karloff. His first movie was in 1958 where he played young writer Joe Sheridan in "Stage Struck", starring Henry Fonda and Susan Strasberg. The same year he appeared in "Wind Across the Everglades", starring Burl Ives and, in a minor role, Peter Falk. His next movie was six years later in 1964 where he portrayed the Roman Emperor Commodus in "The Fall of the Roman Empire" starring Alec Guinness, Stephen Boyd, Sophia Loren and James Mason.

He has appeared on TV, on stage and in many movies such as "Triple Cross" (1966), starring Yul Brynner and Trevor Howard, "Battle of Britain" (1969), starring Lawrence Olivier and Robert Shaw, "Waterloo" (1970), starring Rod Steiger and Orson Welles, "The Scarlet and the Black" (1983), starring Gregory Peck and John Gielgud, "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" (1991), starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy and "A Beautiful Mind" (2001), starring Russell Crowe and Ed Harris. Christopher Plummer is still remembered for portraying Captain Georg Von Trapp in "The Sound of Music" (1965), starring Julie Andrews. Plummer has described the movie as awful and sentimental and found making it unpleasant. He refused to attend the 40th anniversary cast reunion but relented for the 2010 45th anniversary.

Answer: Michael Shanks

Michael Shanks was born Michael Garrett Shanks in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1970. He is best known for playing Dr. Daniel Jackson in "Stargate SG-1", a spin-off from the 1994 movie "Stargate", starring Kurt Russell as Colonel Jack O'Neil and James Spader as Dr. Daniel Jackson.

He was in the BFA Acting Program from 1990 to 1994 and did a two year apprenticeship with the Stratford Festival in Ontario. Before starring in "Stargate SG-1" he appeared in TV series such as "Highlander" and "University Hospital". He also appeared in the TV movie "A Family Divided" and the 1997 movie "The Call of the Wild", starring Rutger Hauer.

Shanks played archaeologist Dr. Daniel Jackson in the first five seasons of "Stargate SG-1", (1997-2001) but left at the end of the fifth season. The reason given was that of creative differences about his under-used character and the direction of the show. He had a recurring role in Season 6 (and was the voice of the Asgard character Thor) but was back as a regular cast member for Seasons 7 to 10. The other members of the original "SG-1" team are Colonel Jack O'Neil (Richard Dean Anderson born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U. S. A.), Captain Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping born in Rochford, Essex, England) and Teal'c (Christopher Judge born in Los Angeles, California. U.S.A.).

In 2003 Michael Shanks married Canadian actress Lexa Doig. They met on the set of the TV series "Andromeda" when Shanks guest starred in the 2001 episode "Star Crossed". They were subsequently both in the final two seasons of "Stargate SG-1" in which Lexa Doig had a recurring role as Dr. Carolyn Lam.

Answer: Jay Silverheels

Jay Silverheels was born Harold J. Smith on the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, near Brantford, Ontario, Canada, in 1912. He died from complications of a stroke in Calabasas, California, U.S.A., in 1980 aged 67.

He was the son of Major George Smith, a Canadian Mohawk tribal chief and military officer. He was athletic and played indoor lacrosse as Harry Smith with the Iroquois of Rochester, New York, in the North American Amateur Lacrosse Association. In 1938 as a middleweight, he was placed second in the Golden Gloves boxing tournament.

In the late '30s he was an extra and stuntman in movies. Billed as Harold Smith or Harry Smith he appeared in low-budget serials and westerns. From the late '40s on, he appeared in movies such as "Captain from Castile" (1947) starring Tyrone Power and "Key Largo" starring Humphrey Bogart (1948); he was uncredited in both movies. He appeared as Geronimo in "Broken Arrow" (1950) starring James Stewart.

In 1949 he appeared on TV in the role he will always be best remembered for, playing Tonto, the faithful friend and sidekick of the Lone Ranger, played by Clayton Moore. The series ran from 1949 to 1957 with two movies "The Lone Ranger" (1956) and "The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold" (1958).

Answer: Yvonne De Carlo

Yvonne De Carlo was born Margaret Yvonne Middleton in West Point Grey, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1922. She died of heart failure in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., in 2007 aged 84. She was the daughter of William Middleton, an Australian born salesman, and Marie De Carlo a French born actress. When her father abandoned the family De Carlo lived with her grandparents, Italian born Michael De Carlo and Scottish born Margaret Purvis.

In the early '40s she entered beauty contests in California and while working as a dancer at the Florentine Gardens, she was arrested by immigration officials and deported to Canada. In 1941 Nils Granlund, the owner of the Florentine Gardens, pledged his sponsorship of De Carlo to US immigration officials. After confirming his offer of steady employment she was allowed to re-enter the U.S.A.

Yvonne De Carlo got her big break starring in the 1945 movie "Salome, Where She Danced" with Rod Cameron and Albert Dekker. Her character Anna Marie is loosely based on the actress/dancer Lola Montez (Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, Countess of Landsfeld). Although she acted in many movies, De Carlo may be best remembered for playing two very different wives. She played Sephora, the wife of Moses in "The Ten Commandments" (1956), starring Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner and Edward G. Robinson. Between 1964 and 1966 she played Lily, the wife of Herman Munster in the US TV series "The Munster's", starring Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis.

Answer: Robert Beatty

Robert Beatty was born Robert Rutherford Beatty in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in 1909. He died of pneumonia in London, England, in 1992 aged 82. After playing in amateur dramatics with the Hamilton Player's Guild in Canada, he went to London, England, to study acting at RADA, on the advice of British actor Leslie Howard.

On radio Robert Beatty played Philip Odell, a fictional Irish detective created by Lester Powell. The series debuted on BBC radio in 1947 with the story "Lady in a Fog" and ran until 1961. On UK TV he appeared in "Dial 999" (1958-1959) as Detective Inspector Mike Maguire, a Canadian Mountie assigned to Scotland Yard. In the 1959 episode "50,000 Hands" William Hartnell (the first Doctor Who) played a criminal and Patrick Troughton (the second Doctor Who) played a tramp (uncredited). In 1966, Beatty appeared as General Cutler in the "Doctor Who" story "The Tenth Planet" with William Hartnell as the doctor. Beatty and Hartnell had appeared together 19 years earlier in the 1947 movie "Odd Man Out". He gave one of his finest performances towards the end of his career in 1987; he played President Ronald Reagan in the TV documentary-drama "Breakthrough at Reykjavik".

In movies he made his debut in "Black Limelight" (1939) starring Raymond Massey (Beatty was an uncredited extra). By the mid '40s he was getting meatier parts - he played a man called Dennis in "Odd Man Out" (1947) starring James Mason. In the '50s he played Lord Beaverbrook in "The Magic Box" (1951) and Jim 'Kid' Curtis in "The Square Ring" (1953). In the '60s he played Gen. George Carnaby/Corporal Cartwright Jones, U.S. Army, in "Where Eagles Dare" (1968), starring Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. He played Dr. Ralph Halvorsen in Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968).

Answer: Geneviève Bujold

Geneviève Bujold was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1942. She got her big break in 1965, while on tour with the Theatre du Rideau Vert company in Paris, France. French director Alain Resnais picked her for the movie "The War Is Over", starring Yves Montand and Ingrid Thulin. Two more French movies followed, "Le Roi de Coeur" (1966), starring Alan Bates and "Le voleur" (1967), starring Jean-Paul Belmondo.

To international acclaim she starred as Anne Boleyn in the 1969 movie "Anne of the Thousand Days", starring Richard Burton, Anthony Quayle and John Colicos. For her performance, she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and received an Academy Award nomination in the same category. She continued to appear in movies throughout the '70s & '80s with "Earthquake" (1974), starring Charlton Heston, "Coma" (1978), starring Michael Douglas and "Tightrope" (1984), starring Clint Eastwood.

In 1994 Geneviève Bujold was chosen for the role of Captain Nicole Janeway on "Star Trek: Voyager". After the second day of shooting on the pilot episode "Caretaker" she walked away from the part. She had done this before when, as a rising star, she had walked away from her contract with Universal Studios in the '70s. For "Star Trek" fans, compare her scenes on YouTube with those of second choice Kate Mulgrew, who made the part of Captain Kathryn Janeway her own.

Answer: Walter Huston

Walter Huston was born Walter Thomas Houghston in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1883. He died of an aortic aneurysm in Hollywood, California, USA, in 1950 aged 67.

He made his stage debut in 1902 but gave up acting in 1904 and managed power stations in Nevada and Missouri. In 1909 he appeared in vaudeville with Bayonne Whipple, billed as Whipple and Huston. This lasted into the '20s when he appeared on Broadway in 1924 in the play "Mr. Pitt". Huston went to Hollywood and his first major role was as Trampas in the 1929 movie "The Virginian", starring Gary Cooper in his first talkie. Among Huston's movies in the '30s were "Abraham Lincoln" (1930), starring Una Merkel and "Gabriel Over the White House" (1933), starring Franchot Tone. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Samuel Dodsworth in "Dodsworth" (1936), starring Mary Astor and David Niven.

In 1941 Walter Huston made an uncredited cameo appearance that lasted less than a minute as Captain Jacoby in the movie "The Maltese Falcon". It starred Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor and Sydney Greenstreet and was directed by his son John Huston. In 1948 he played Howard in "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre", again starring Humphrey Bogart and directed by his son John Huston. For his role as Howard, Walter Huston won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and John Huston won the Best Director Academy Award, making them the first father and son to win awards at the same ceremony. Walter Huston's last movie was "The Furies" (1950), starring Barbara Stanwyck and Wendell Corey.

Answer: Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford was born Gladys Louise Smith in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1892. She died of complications from a cerebral haemorrhage she had suffered the previous week, in Santa Monica, California, USA, in 1979 aged 87.

She got the name Mary Pickford from David Belasco, the producer of the play "The Warrens of Virginia" that she was appearing in on Broadway in 1907. The play was written by William C. de Mille, whose brother Cecil also appeared in the play. In 1909 director D. W. Griffith screen-tested her in the New York studio of the Biograph Company, she appeared in 51 movies that year.

After such movies as "Hearts Adrift" and "Tess of the Storm Country" in 1914 she became the most popular actress in America. Only Charlie Chaplin was more popular with movies goers and critics alike. In 1916 she signed a new contract with Adolph Zukor that granted her full authority over production of the movies which she starred in and a salary of $10,000 per week. In 1919 Mary Pickford, along with Douglas Fairbanks, whom she married in 1920, D.W. Griffith and Charlie Chaplin, formed the independent film production company United Artists. Through United Artists, Mary Pickford continued to produce and perform in her own movies. The arrival of sound was the writing on the wall for Pickford's career and this quote of hers shows how out of touch she was, "Adding sound to movies would be like putting lipstick on the Venus de Milo". She did receive the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1929 movie "Coquette" but the public failed to respond to her later movies and her career faded. She retired from making movies in 1933. In 1956 she sold her shares in United Artists for $3,000,000.